Anadigm combines hardware, software for analog circuits

Anadigm Inc. has combined its field-programmable analog array (FPAA) silicon and configurable analog modules with new EDA software that allows designers to develop complex analog circuits and manipulate them on the fly through the system controller.

"This brings hardware, software, and analog people around one table, probably for the first time," said Mike Kay, president and chief executive of Anadigm, Campbell, Calif. "Only by getting them in the same room do you get maximum payoff."

Dubbed Anadigmvortex, the hardware/software platform is designed to be simple enough for use by nonspecialists while providing a compelling enough productivity boost to appeal to seasoned analog designers.

A design project can be reduced to two or three weeks vs. two or three months for a discrete solution and two years for an ASIC, Kay said. A nonrecurring engineering fee is $3,000 to cover the software license.

The AnadigmDesigner 2 EDA tool allows designers to drag and drop analog IP modules within the AN220E04 FPAAs to create a circuit, then reconfigure its function either statically or dynamically using a simple GUI.

"The importance of real-time control can't be overstated, because it means that designers will now be able to use specialized analog for applications that formerly required DSPs, thus simplifying designs and removing latency problems," said Rita Glover, an analyst at EDA Today, LC, Kingman, Ariz.

Anadigmvortex is designed for band-limited (<2MHz) projects of 1,000 to 100,000 units, typically in the industrial/medical, telecom, automotive, and military sectors. Anadigm claims to have 34 customers beta sampling the product in applications such as photonics, avionics, baseband radio, and tunable lasers.

In 44-pin QFPs, the AN220E04 FPAAs are $15 in 10,000s. An evaluation kit with development board, entry-level software, and documentation is $499.